LOS ANGELES, CA- A former LAPD officer convicted of stealing eight pounds
of cocaine has implicated himself and another officer in an
unjustified shooting of an unarmed young man, who was then framed for
assaulting police and sentenced to more than 23 years in prison,
authorities said Wednesday (15 Sept. 1999). In
addressing what has become the largest LAPD corruption probe in
recent memory, Chief Bernard C. Parks said at a hastily called
evening news conference that a total of 12 officers have been
relieved of duty.

Those officers are
suspected of a variety of crimes and departmental abuses, ranging
from active participation in drug dealing to "code-of-silence"
violations that allowed wayward (illegal?) behavior to go unpunished,
according to sources. Department officials declined to elaborate on
the charges. All 12 officers, who have been "assigned to home
duty," either work or have worked at the department's Rampart
Division.

The most troubling
development, police said Wednesday, centered on a bloody attack three
years ago by two LAPD officers on a 19-year-old youth. Prosecutors
are seeking to have Javier Francisco Ovando, now 22, released from
prison based on new, incriminating information from ex-Officer Rafael
A. Perez, who admits that Ovando has been sitting behind bars for
three years for crimes he didn't commit, authorities said. (Ovando
was released from prison several days after this article was
published in September, 1999. WFI Editor)

"It's not a good
day," Chief Parks told reporters just hours after he had handed
out 18 Medal of Valor awards to department employees. "Because
this case has been so hopelessly compromised by the actions of the
Los Angeles police officers involved, there can be no new trial,"
said Sandi Gibbons, a district attorney spokeswoman. "We are
asking that the case be dismissed in the interest of justice."

The other officer
implicated in the shooting by Perez is Nino Durden, his former
partner, who was relieved of duty last month on allegations that
include planting drugs on suspects and making a false arrest in cases
unrelated to the Oct. 12, 1996, shooting of Ovando, who sustained
multiple gunshot wounds and was left wheelchair-bound, according to
LAPD officials.

As part of a plea
agreement reached last week with prosecutors, Perez has been
cooperating with authorities and identifying a host of other
allegedly corrupt officers at the LAPD in exchange for a lighter
sentence on his cocaine convictions. In addition to Perez, former
LAPD Officer David A. Mack was sentenced this week to 14 years, three
months in federal prison for robbing a bank of $722,000. Mack and
Perez were former partners and friends. (What does it mean when
police officers are moonlighting as drug dealers and bank robbers?
WFI Editor)

Durden, a 31-year-old
officer who has five years on the force and is a training officer,
could not be reached for comment. For top LAPD brass, who like to
boast of the integrity of their officers, the shooting of Ovando is
particularly devastating. (What is more devastating, that the
code-of-silence was broken, or that the integrity of LAPD officers
was not what they represented it as? WFI Editor) Three
years ago, however, there was little indication the shooting was
unjustified, police say. According to an internal LAPD report on the
shooting, which authorities now believe is factually bogus, Perez and
Durden were on a stakeout at a vacant apartment in the 1200 block of
South Lake Street, a known hangout for members of the 18th
Street Gang. The two officers, partners in an anti-gang unit in the
Rampart Division, were on the lookout for a weapons cache stolen
during a residential burglary in Orange County.

They had been there about
three hours when Durden said he heard footsteps in the hallway
outside of Apartment 407, where they were holed up. Durden alerted
Perez and the two partners quietly made their way toward the front
door to investigate, the documents state. Just then, Ovando burst in,
brandishing an "assault-type" rifle, the report says.
Durden shouted, "Police! Drop the gun!" When Ovando didn't
comply, both Perez and Durden opened fire, hitting the suspect three
times. Ovando fell into a crouched position but held onto his weapon
and turned toward Perez. Perez then shot the suspect once more, the
report says. Ovando was shot in the head, chest and hip area. Based
on this account by Durden and Perez, an LAPD review board found the
shooting "in policy."

In the report, then-Chief
Willie L. Williams praised the officers' teamwork, writing: "I
have determined that Officers Perez and Durden's tactics were
appropriate and require no further action." But Perez now tells
a different story. He says Ovando was unarmed, and that he and Durden
planted a sawed-off .22 caliber rifle on the suspect after they shot
him. Investigators declined comment on the motive for the shooting,
but both officers are under investigation for allegedly stealing
money and drugs from drug dealers, sources said.

Although police say
Ovando is a tattooed 18th Street Gang member, prior to the
shooting the young man had no criminal convictions, court records
show. At his preliminary hearing on charges that he assaulted the
officers, Ovando had to be carried into the courtroom on a gurney.
During the trial, Perez and Durden convinced a jury that they were
attacked by Ovando. The judge in the case gave Ovando a stiff
sentence, saying the officers were "particularly vulnerable,"
and the crime was premeditated, involving planning and
sophistication. Ovando also showed no remorse, the judge said. (It's
cases like this that prove that the republic is a police state,
because when police can commit such a simple lie, and the result is
the framing of an innocent person WHO GOES TO PRISON, it's evidence of the real
dominance of the police agencies over the civilian government. WFI
Editor)

The LAPD shooting report
shows that other officers participated in the stakeout that night,
but were situated away from Perez and Durden. Those officers remain
under suspicion, sources say. LAPD detectives recently interviewed a
reluctant Ovando in prison, saying he was so jaded by his experience
with police that he was hesitant to cooperate with the new
investigation. Prosecutors are expected to petition a judge today to
release Ovando from state custody. But because Ovando is an illegal
immigrant, he will remain in custody for a deportation hearing. At
least three civil lawsuits have already been filed against one
Rampart officer, who was recently fired, and Parks said Wednesday
that he was notifying the city attorney's office about potential
further liability.

SOURCE: Excerpted from
the 16 September, 1999, issue of the Los Angeles Times, Orange County
Edition, from an article entitled, "Ex-Officer Says He Shot
Unarmed Man." Reprinted in the public service of the national
interest of the American people.

(WFI EDITOR: The
LAPD is one of the largest and most powerful metropolitan police
departments in the United States. Its scope covers as many millions
of people as the populations of some entire states, making the mayor
of Los Angeles in effect the equivalent of a governor, and making the
Chief of Police one of the most powerful individuals in local
government. Articles such as this highlight the real control the
police have over American communities. Defense attorneys across the
nation have horror stories about the "code of silence" in
every locality, making justice a mockery. As long as Americans refuse
to admit that the republic is a police state, it will be impossible
to move forward, towards a truly democratic civilian form of
government.)